Dealing with a toddler that hits, is a very trying thing. By trying, I mean, I tried a lot of different ways. I tried smacking back. I tried flicking back. I tried timeout. I tried it all. If you have a very determined child who is also bright, all those things are going to get you is more smacking. What I have done is, I've taken my daughter's hand down and explained to her that there is a cause and effect. I don't think she understood that by smacking me, she was hurting me or that I didn't like it. When I sat down and explained to her, "If you smack me," and I would smack my hand down and make a thud, she started to understand that the smacking does have an effect. When she got that, she would go to smack me and stop herself and say, "No, no." She understood that smacking me had an effect. Once I empowered her with that knowledge, she decided on her own she shouldn't do it.